Halton Hills Newspapers

Georgetown Herald (Georgetown, ON), July 30, 1941, p. 6

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

the georgetown hcrajd wednesday evening july 30th 1941 the british commonwealth air training plan one oft series of articles written medauy far weeuty ncwipf eci fay hsffa temphn bdtior of the verm newskconl rmots ibabn jo handle planes at elkmentaby siting schools this is the sixth in a antes of sr- ttclea about the rjojut written lor the weekly newspapers of ontario one year ago mount hope was utue crossroads village south of ha milton about halfway between that city and the grand river bow it got its name i dont know but the hopes of the early olunena must have been realised at last the village itself is utue changed av yet but on the high ground nearby there are two air training camps one of them oper ated by the royal air force of great mitaln the other by the royal cana dian air force as a unit ol the brit ish commonwealth air training plan previous stories in this series have followed the future pilot through the first two months or more of his train ing but he has not beep in the air yet he has had to prove his fitness in haiiy ways but the nearest he- has come to actual flight has been in a miniature plane anchored firmly to the ground at some one of the 26 elementary plying training schools scattered across canada he will ex perience the thrill of his first night unless he has at some time before enlistment paid for a ride as a pas senger or is one of those rare re cruits with training as commercial pilots the no admittance sign it isnt easy to get inside the gate at any of the r caf training schools that is as it should be and no one can object to the rules but sometimes the guards interpret them more strictly than at otners i drove up to the gate armed with letters from the training command pnrt accompanied by a flying officer in uniform the commanding officer was expecting me but the guard at the barrier was adamant i had no pass so i didn t get in he must have been an nco in the imperials- rules to him were rules protestations by my guide and a telephone call to the commanding officer dldnt alter the fact that i had no pass finally jt was suggested to the guard that he write me out one himself he did so and i passed triumphantly inside there isnt much beauty about the mount hope school the countryside is flat and uninteresting a year ago the camp site was still farm land the landing field hasn t grown up in grass yet though the runways are paved the buildings are of the fa miliar pattern found at all the schools with everything standardized for rapid and economical construction the out side of the huts is covered with roof ing paper everywhere there is a look of newness the first flying instruction after graduation from the initial training school the future pilots part from the other students and go to the elementary flying training schools of which mount hope is a typical example these schools are not run by the government but by private companies each one sponsored by a canadian flying club one re mit is that there is a certain division of labor at each of these elementary schools there is a civilian manager whose duty it is to supervise all the actual flying instruction and main tenance of the planes and an rca f officer in charge of discipline and of the classroom teaching tne arrangement has been criticiz ed but it seems to be working well early in the war when the great air training plan was first put into oper ation it enabled the roaf to take advantage of the most experienced in structors available tne enthusiasts who had kept alive the flying clubs that saved precious weeks and has worked so well there is not likely to be any immediate change except in minor de tails all other types of schools are directly under the rcaf all the planes used at mount hope are fleet finches some other schools use tiger moths there was a time montfis ago when they used some of each or whatever training planes were available but there is no longer any scarcity of training claries the fleet finches and the tiger moths are both doubleseated biplanes two pairs of wings enable them to fly steadily in the hands of beginners and to land at a safe speed flying speed la sllghuy over 100 miles an hour landing less than half that officials at mount hope are proud of one record since the school was opened last october not one student fas been injured or killed the hos pital hasnt had an aowssney case to handle i found aumkr records st other schools it is not the begin ners who crash but those who think tbejr are experienced puou tmnthmtm as their vsse the student takes hli first flight in the front seat of a fleet trainer with an experienced pilot in the rear be fore he goes up be pats on one of several types of warm firing suits s helmet wluh ear phones so that he can listen to the instructor and s pair of big soft moccasins a para chute la strapped to his body there is a broad belt of webbing around the waist with two narrow straps over tbsshouldsxs and two more around the legs all the straps are fastened to a look in front of the body the parachute itself is carefully folded in side bee which selves as a cushion on whtoh the student sits while fly ing the trp cord isnt a cord at xl fastened to the belt on the left side is a urge metal handle in easy reach of the right hand when it is buosd a metal cable uke that used in mam abutters jsrfts open the bag kl wmsh ttv parachute is folded few i wttterer ban to use one m least bat the feel of a on the hsefc htm added one of the buildings at mount hope is the parachute room the parachute is made of the finest grade japanese silk- with braided cords the length is about 40 feet and the cost of one is about s400 parachutes are given con stant care since uvea depend or them every few days they are un packed and hung up in a tower look ing uke a flock of big bats hanging from the celling folding and repick ing are done by experts an interesting chute story comei from another school new parachutes were taken there for testing a weight was attached and the- parachutes taken up in one of the big bombers it was laid on two planks across an opening in the floor of the plane one of the ground crew not too bright apparent ly was given the duty of going aloft and releasing the parachute to be tested his duties were simple the weight rested on a couple of planks stretched across the opening all be had to do was up the planks at the proper time to let the parachute go auwent weuunttloneday when a plank got caught jerking at it the aircraftman lost his balance and fell forward through the hole quite un expectedly he tested a parachute but it was his own how to aim a spitfire at the elementary flying training school the student pilot flies about 50 hours 25 of them under the of an instructor and the rest aioi he may go up as often as four timi day but never over four hours al together in one day the other half of the day is spent in the lecture rooms two afternoons btweek there are sports at jto clock tennis soft- ball and soccer one building houses the link trainers which are continu ally used for testing the students lectures include such subjects as na vigation engines rigging theory of flight armament and signals classrooms vary according to the subject taught i will describe only one of the most interesting it is obviously important that pupte of fighting planes should be able to recognise an enemy at a distance and get in the fust shota end those shots must be accurate all flying schools teach aircraft re cognition walls of classrooms and hells are covered with pictures at british american and enemy planes models made of plastic and brought from britain or carved from wood by nnartiyn boys accurately measured to scale are suspended from wires in various positions and can be moved across the room using these models the student learne to aim with the sights used on the famous spitfire planes i found this sight a fascinating piece of op tical equipment it is not much lar ger than a flashlight and is uhnnnv ated by a small bum at the bottom zhe pilot looks through a doping piece of glass which is tranepawnt and yet acts as a mirror on the glass i drue of light appears with a cross bar of light broken in the middle in the exact centre of the circle is a spot of bright light there are two dials on the gun- sight tinipt to those on the lens of a camera the pilot sees an enemy plane in the distance he sets one dial according to the type of plane say a meseerscbmitt 109 and the other for the distance at which he intends to open flre says 300 yards after that he can concentrate on keeping the enemy plane inside that circle of light when it is close enough that the wings of the approaching plane fill the space in the broken bar of light the pilot touches a button and the flre of eight machine guns con verges on the spot marked by the bright point of light on the gunsight in training no guns are fired but the pupil learns to judge distance and to accurately and quickly oanding officer at mount hope is flying officer w p pleasance the administration officer who was our guide 1 flying officer l w code week camp borden -v- brute she your utue wife made that cake with her own dear utue hands he well now if my utue wife wlu eat that cake with her own dear utue mouth i will be satisfied a group of student pilots leaving the flying field at the elementary flying training school at mount hope near hamilton i filet and inatneter in hying salts with paraefcmie en their backs enter a fleet finch training plane at meant hope royal air force photographs save gas by buying at home every week the pages of the herald are filled with advertisements of georgetown merchants and businessmen telling you of the services available to yoju in your own home town on another page of this issue appears an advertisement inserted by the government of canada urging canadian people to reduce their purchases of gaso line in order to conserve supplies and release transportation facilities for vital war purposes what better way to save gas than by buying at home where your local merchant is always on hand to give you value for your money you cant go wrong if you use the georgetown herald as your buying guide buyers guide brills dept store mens furnishings ladies ready to wear boots and shoes main st phone 167 c 8 o b g e t o w n phone georgetown 2s0 acton 140 georgetown lumber co everything in lumber sash doors and interior finish we also handle hydrated lime hardwall plaster fibre beard cement and 1 rosnnf of all kinds w j cain invites your patronage auto repairing any make tires batteries welding all work quarantbed phone 284w victoria st collctejnew hollywood hotel norval a home away from home every accommodation exchange hotel room and meals good accommodation r licata f fruit vegetable market a good place to shop phone 71 georgetown lilucos we try to make an ad of every permanent machine or macwnrlf our prices are right too caiat 278j or w hugh lindsay radios refrigerators kehrinator pbilco stewart- warner main st phone 11 mcbean co importers of dry goods gents furnishings shoes caps overall house furnishings phone 64 h c mcclure home furnishings ftmeral director and amfanlanee servfee phone 54 georgetown why not make mcgibbons hotel your meeting place pleasant social snntrinidlncb visit mackenzies one stop service station cars picked op and deurerei aisl cabs insured we invite year patronare phone 355 brute mackenzle proprietor why spend your money out-of- town when rachlins ean rrre ran better service a try will sattsfz cleaning pressing tailoring ah work ouaranieed phone 233 wjvbb scohs garage international track sales and service oamer mate end oaetpfc sta phone 161 otjtta mom ttre8 richardsons hardware phone 25 shock electric fence 18 cottpiete with eveready hotshot battery bisalators errand tod and fence lead phone 25 we deliver saxe motors omi boad service podje and desoto sales and service geelph street phone 1s2 white rose service station and garage specialist irnltion and carburetor repairs f sinclair main street georgetown phone 26 tyers milk products limited high grade dairy products phone lg2 aoion own wliimsmmtr4vttntpifi h twoambw f tbtmtrtmcmatbttm at im mtkf h mmt mt mt cnbtt ssm at srsaanst afar haw arssft2 avpt atafehr tats tuml j saax sew iff stama fefcf jojjev t hft t jar trt f asxmv tss m r fear e a 1 lmmmt mminmitmmllutt wrixwpte

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy